Liverpool City Council is set to back plans to build 1,500 waterfront homes at the iconic Festival Gardens site.
It represents a major step forward for the ambitious plans, with the cabinet set to approve the timeline for the works - which hopes for the first homes to be available "by 2022".
The cabinet will on Friday consider the report for a "comprehensive regeneration" of the 28-acre site, which has lain dormant for more than 20 years, and will include "eco-friendly" homes on the prime waterfront land.
That report lays out four major stepping stones, which are:
- To submit planning application for remediation of the Development Zone in December 2019
- Accept grant funding of £9.9m from Homes England
- Apply for funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to fund remediation and infrastructure works
-Negotiate and complete legal agreements to pave the way for a residential planning application for 1,500 homes by Summer 2020
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Liverpool Council said the homes will not be built on the publicly accessible gardens but closed off parts of the former International Garden Festival site.
It added that it wanted to facilitate site remediation and ground infrastructure works, before selling the land for the delivery of new homes to create a green community, "which would include extended parkland and an upgrade to the adjacent Festival Gardens".
IMGF Developments Ltd, a joint venture between ION Developments Limited and Midia Group, are producing a full residential masterplan and will work closely with the city council on a consultation programme with the neighbouring communities.
Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said: “The derelict site situated to the west of Festival Gardens presents a huge opportunity to create a new community that would be truly transformational for housing in Liverpool, generating millions of pounds every year in council tax revenue.
“A huge amount of work has gone into understanding how this former landfill site and barren wasteland can be transformed and we are now at a very exciting stage of asking for approval to prepare the site in readiness for what could be one of the 海角视频’s best eco-friendly housing developments.
“We have come a long way in a very short space of time since the city council bought the land back and the vision of creating a new community in South Liverpool at an iconic destination is now another step closer.”
The site hosted the International Garden Festival in 1984 but since then there has been a struggle to find another use for it, with its status as a former landfill weighing on plans to develop it.
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The first major step will be clearing the site, with the report submitted to cabinet saying the costs of clearing work are "challenging and significant" and suggests the council will need to apply for further funding from the Liverpool City Region to carry out the work.
Liverpool Council bought the site for £6m in 2015 but last year mayor Anderson said the costs of clearing it alone could be £29m.
Homes England have already committed £9.9m in funding to help kickstart the clearing work and metro mayor Steve Rotheram said the combined authority was in discussions with the council about further funding.
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “We have long supported plans to help return the Garden Festival site to its former glory and we are working hard with Homes England and Liverpool City Council to make things happen.
“If we are to respond to the national housing crisis, we desperately need to build new homes and utilising previously-developed, brownfield sites such as this is not only the most environmentally sustainable approach but will also help us protect vital green spaces.
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“We’re currently working with the city council for Strategic Investment Funding to support remediation of the site and create the necessary infrastructure for development. This will then be considered for approval by the Combined Authority.”
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Arup has been appointed by the council to produce and submit the remediation planning application, which will encompass a comprehensive excavation, processing and reuse strategy of the top 6m layer of material across the Development Zone.
The council said that will provide a comprehensive, industry tested and supported method to create a platform for future residential development.
Steve Parry of IMGF Developments Ltd, said: “The Development Zone sits within close proximity of the legacy of The International Garden Festival. We are looking to transform what is currently a brownfield, former municipal tip into one of the greenest communities in the north, incorporating newly created parkland that will expand the existing Festival Gardens.”